Aayla Black
Aayla Elle Black 7th, 1904 - 1954 known as Empress Aayla or in some cases, Aayla the Awful was the last Monarch of the First Black Dynasty before it's restoration after the Bearstinian Reconstruction Wars. She took the throne after her father was killed by Carinian assassins in The Great Regional War in 1943, and attempted to carry on the war effort. She was never able to continue the war effort and was forced to pull out of the war and pay reparations to the Carinian government. The popular Grand Marshal Frederick Wilson announced his resignation despite his career picking up due to his disagreements with Aayla, which was actually a contingency of the late Darius Black, Aayla's father and Fredericks mentor. She was forced to abdicate in 1954 and was given asylum in the Arengin Union where she died in 1972. Sobriquet Aayla was given the sobriquet Aayla the Awful during her reign given the awful conditions of the empire. Very few monarchs got a sobriquet during their reign and the media, which was usually controlled by the palace, even used her nickname due to how bad Bearstin had gotten. Early Life Aayla was born in 1904 to Darius Black and Elle Geoff in the Imperial Palace Hospital Ward. She was the only child of the two but was very introverted and preferred to be left to her own devices. This was contrary to her father, Darius, who would never leave court officials alone as a child. She went to the Bearstinian Royal Academy as every monarch had and achieved high honor roll with ease, but her grades were lower then those before her and it is theorized that she was given good grades so as to keep her father happy. At the age of 18, she graduated from the Bearstinian Royal Academy and began to accompany her father to political meetings. She was often outspoken and on one occasion, Darius yelled at her in front of the the President of Kaitani. Despite her seemingly clueless qualities, she was very good with nature, animals, and literature. She wrote books as a teenager and one of her fictional books, Wanda Rowena, is considered a Bearstinian literary classic. Empress of Bearstin In 1943, her father Darius was murdered by a Carinian strike team in the Imperial Palace. In his will which was read to a small court consisting of some advisers, Aayla, her son Luke, and Frederick Wilson, Darius' Grand Marshal and lifelong friend. Frederick had rushed back to the palace when news of his death broke. The will declared that Frederick was to succeed him as Emperor of Bearstin. Though not unprecedented, this angered Aayla and she had the advisers imprisoned on the grounds of conspiracy and warranted an arrest for Frederick. Frederick fled the Palace and unbeknownst to her, gained asylum in Aydinir. Aayla at first meant to destroy the will, but instead hid it away in her desk. With Frederick gone, she had no military leader, and appointed Jared Kronburg as Grand Marshall. Kronburg at first continued the Invasion of Kaitaini, but with the chaos of leadership change, a different vision, and infighting within the ranks, the Bearstinians were forced to retreat. Once they had lost their footing, Kronburg advised that they pursue peace. The peace deal demanded the Bearstinians pay massive reparations and that they cut their military budget. Aayla accepted this deal on the grounds that peace would allow her to consolidate her rule. Within months, the economy began to decline and unrest grew. The reparations crippled Bearstin's economy and the restrictions on their military angered the Coytians who threatened to succeed and make their nation. By 1950, Aayla had become extremely unpopular. First Bearstinian Civil War In 1950, she sent her 16 year old son Luke to study abroad in Aydinir, there he had met Frederick and having been in the throne room, knew he was the rightful ruler of Bearstin. In 1951, the Coytians and Aydinirians declared she was not fit to rule and her son and Frederick forced her out of Bearstin. They discovered the will and used it to rally Bearstin behind them. All of North Bearstin rallied behind Frederick and Luke including Bearstin, Coytey, and Wolfin. South Bearstin supported her in hopes of gaining favor over the North whom, in their view had exploited the South's people and resources. By 1954, the Aayla was forced out of Bearstin and found asylum in the Arengin Union. Arenginian Coup In 1956, Aayla, along with an exiled war hero named Deadeye became involved in the Communist Uprising in Arengin. They were both drawn to the ideals of communism, seeing it as solution to the economic problems that had caused their downfall in the Civil War.